It is in his blood. New Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer is the Son of Martyball. Run. Run. Pass. Punt. It worked to perfection, or near enough, during his late father Marty Schottenheimer’s great coaching career in the NFL for multiple franchises. While this may be his son’s only opportunity to lead his own team, he has no choice but to make the most of the situation.
As simply as I can put it, the Cowboys are only going to be as good as their rushing attack allows them to be. Ball control will take pressure off an up-and-down defense, as well as prevent franchise quarterback Dak Prescott from having to do anything more than he could ever handle. This is why Dallas made it a priority to replace future Pro Football Hall of Fame guard Zack Martin with Tyler Booker in this spring’s draft.
While Booker was a standout performer for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC, going No. 12 overall to the Cowboys caught many draft analysts be complete surprise. He had a first-round grade, but came off the board at least a dozen picks before many of them expected he would. Booker faces unique pressure for a rookie interior offensive lineman because of this.
After not playing in the Cowboys’ first preseason game, Booker will debut vs. Baltimore this weekend.
Legitimately wonder how much people talking about Tyler Booker not playing played a role in the decision here.
Obviously it is possible that it played zero role. https://t.co/XynDjHPnWw
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) August 14, 2025
Cowboys insider Calvin Watkins later mentioned this was all part of Schottenheimer’s plan for him.
Brian Schottenheimer will play Tyler Booker in second preseason game
Look. If this was part of Schottenheimer’s plan for Booker all along, I am good with this. Every NFL franchise goes about its allotment of preseason games differently. Some take them quite seriously, while others never have any of their starters dress for these glorified exhibition contests. In years past, most teams take the penultimate preseason game the most seriously as their dress rehearsal.
To me, this all points to Booker being a very important part of this team as a projected Week 1 starter. Frankly, he would have to be to justify the Cowboys reaching on him in the draft. Again, I had no problem whatsoever with the Cowboys taking him. I would have just rather seen them trade back and get him in a range that was not so much of a reach. Maybe no real trade offers manifested for Dallas?
Ultimately, I can really feel the pressure starting to mount for this team. This is not what I expected when the Cowboys decided to move on from McCarthy two years too late. There is a very realistic possibility that Schottenheimer goes one-and-done as a head coach in Dallas. This team has an outside shot of making the playoffs, but the Cowboys play in the same division as two contenders.
For now, I am so excited to see what Booker is all about for Dallas in helping them find their footing.
